North, South, East and West: Johto Saga
by ShadesofChaos40
Summary: In this branch of the NSEW saga. We follow Chris and his malevolent Gastly as they attempt to answer the ultimate question. Can Chris defeat the 8 Johto Gym Leaders or will he and Gastly kill each other before then?


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North, South, East and West Johto Saga: A Tale of dual Phoenix

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Greetings one and all to the second story of the four running side by side in the North, South, East and West Saga. This story is going to follow the adventures of Chris and his companions as they journey through the region of Johto. Therefore, if you are more interested in reading about the exploits of Richard, Amy or Rebecca, turn back now and seek out their own stories on my userpage. Also please read the main story (entitled North, South, East and West) before reading this otherwise some aspects of the tale may not make much sense.

In order to remind any readers who are interested, the trainer submission competition is still open. If you wish for your original trainer to become a major travelling partner over the course of the stories then merely include in your review (or in a PM if you prefer) a brief background and team lineup for me to use. Please note that only the following starter Pokemon are available and you must travel in the region native to that starter. You may only choose from:- Charmander, Squirtle, Cyndaquil, Mudkip or Chimchar.

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Disclaimer: All official Pokemon and Characters are copyrighted by Nintendo. Chris, Richard, Amy and Rebecca are owned by me. And Nathan is owned by JoshDW but he will likely only be making a small appearance in this chapter.

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Chapter 1: A Pokemon and a Stowaway.

Chris shakily disembarked from the small boat and waved his thanks to the man in the peaked cap behind the wheel. The man nodded politely before turning the wheel hard to port (or was it starboard?) and returning in the direction from which they had come.

Because Johto and it's neighbour Kanto were more commercialised and more importantly closer to Orre than Hoenn was, ferries left for the twin regions more frequently than they did for Hoenn. As such, it was only just past three in the afternoon when Chris hit Johtoian soil. Chris had caught a large commercial ferry from Gateon Port to a small terminal just off of the coast where Johto met Kanto. From there he had bought another ticket for one of the smaller boats that ferried paying customers to more specific destinations on the coastline. The tiny little boat had been crammed with tourists and other Pokemon trainers so tightly that Chris had spent most of the journey praying that Gastly wouldn't escape from his Pokeball, for in this confined space recapture of the errant ghost would be impossible. Fortunately for Chris, it had been a hot, sunny day which was sufficiently bright to convince Gastly to remain within the gloomy confines of his Pokeball and the trip had passed without severe incident. One girl had almost been pushed over the side rail but a trainer had acted quickly on instinct and her Arbok had made a spectacular diving catch for the young child.

Now back on terra firma, Chris took a bit of time to familiarise himself with New Bark town. Many of the fellow passengers on the privatised boat had left New Bark immediately for the nearby town of Cherrygrove in order to get in some shopping before night fell. Chris however grabbed a town map from an information booth on the pier and made his way into the town in an effort to locate Professor Elm's laboratory.

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Three and a half hours later and Chris was admittedly, lost. Evening was coming and Chris was sitting on a bench poring over the map and trying to figure out where he was. If he couldn't find Elm's lab quickly, his priorities would change to finding a hostel or a Pokemon centre to rest for the night. Chris was tracing a path on the map with a finger when a flash of light came forth from the Pokeball on his belt and Gastly materialised hovering in the air a few feet in front of him.

"_Were you intending to ever let me out of that thing?_" Gastly asked, feigning an air of hurt about him. Chris didn't bother looking up from the map.

"Shut up Gastly. I'm busy trying to figure out where I am."

"_Shut up? That's not very nice. You're not going to win any friends with that sort of attitude_." Gastly said, sticking out his ample tongue.

"You've never been my friend Gastly." Chris said plainly, still not looking up from the map. "And, if the amount of abuse you've spewed at me in the short time we've known each other is any indication, you have no intention of _becoming_ my friend."

"_Very perceptive_" said Gastly, dropping his air of fake hurt and reassuming his normal air of anger and annoyance. However, despite his anger and general disposition towards his trainer, Gastly couldn't quite hide his confusion at the map that Chris still hadn't taken his eye off.

"_What's that?_" Gastly asked, hovering around and looking over Chris' shoulder at the map. Once he'd realized what it was, Gastly burst into derisive laughter.

"_You're lost aren't you?_" He chuckled. Chris refused to answer him this time which let Gastly know that he was right and Chris just didn't want to give him the satisfaction of saying it. Gastly smiled to himself and surveyed the map with his large eyes.

"_Are you looking for the Pokemon Centre, or for another building altogether?_" Gastly asked. Chris sighed and checked his watch. He swore to himself. He'd been sitting here for too long and Elm's lab would now no longer be open unless someone was working the night shift. But in all probability anyone who'd been conned into the night shift probably wouldn't be too amiable towards a dirty and dishevelled youth banging on the door and demanding a Pokemon. Probably better just to head to the Pokemon Centre for a decent night's sleep. Or at least, as good of a night's sleep that he could get with Gastly around.

"The Pokemon Centre I guess." Chris admitted folding up the map and looking around for a road. Gastly sighed at his trainer's indecision and waved an ectoplasmic tentacle in front of Chris' eyes, grabbing the boy's attention.

"_You really are useless._" He grinned. "_Follow me."_ And with that, he turned and drifted away down a darkened street. In a desperate attempt to keep Gastly from causing night time mischief, Chris walked after the ghost Pokemon.

To Chris' complete astonishment, twenty minutes later the two arrived in the warming glow of the city's Pokemon centre. Chris checked that his eyes were not deceiving him and that he really was in front of a Pokemon centre before turning accusingly to Gastly.

"Alright. What's the catch? Why bring me here?" He rounded on the ghost who merely sighed and rolled his eyes.

"_Simple. Point One. We are in a foreign land amongst strange Pokemon and I'd rather have a wall between me and them tonight. Point Two. You have no food, and I'm starving."_ Gastly said. Chris' eyes widened.

"What do you mean I have no food?" Chris asked, pulling his pack off his back and starting to rifle through it. "I packed the bag specially last…night…" Chris trailed off before glaring at the Ghost.

"What have you done with it?" Chris yelled upending the bag onto the ground. All twenty ration packs that Chris had packed the previous night were gone.

"_I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."_ Gastly said, stifling a grin as he turned and floated through the glass doors of the Pokemon Centre. Chris had no idea that there were now some very full Chinchou somewhere on the ocean's floor. Muttering foul curses under his breath, Chris picked up everything that he had dumped out of his bag in his anger, stuffed it all back in his bag and stalked after his partner.

Chris' night sleep was surprisingly peaceful, Gastly had apparently remained content to not menace anyone during the night. It seemed that the fear of new and hitherto unknown species of Pokemon was placating Gastly's mischievous nature.

After a pleasing breakfast, (of which Gastly devoured more than half) Chris followed his ghostly guide's directions to Professor Elm's laboratory. It took far longer than Chris had expected, mainly because Gastly was going slowly in the brightening morning light, and partly because Gastly would often take wrong turns and meandering detours just to irritate Chris. Thus, it was nearly midday by the time Chris opened the door to Professor Elm's laboratory and walked inside.

Although he had no way of knowing it, if Chris had been able to make the comparison he would have noted that Professor Elm's lab was much smaller than the labs of Professors Oak, Birch and Rowan. In fact, the lab consisted of only one room. A young aide in a grubby lab coat was pencilling notes onto a stack of paper. At the other end of room was a man that Chris assumed was Professor Elm. The man had his back to Chris and was taking small objects down from a bookcase. On one of the shelves of the bookcase was a small transparent case containing three Pokeballs. When the man turned round, he spotted Chris. He turned back around and grabbed the Pokeball case. He smiled as Chris walked forwards. The neon light bulbs had forced Gastly to retreat into his Pokeball for now.

"Ah, you must be Chris." Elm smiled, holding out his hand. Chris shook it and passed over his coupon to Professor Elm (thanking the gods that Gastly hadn't decided to add some more papery fibre to the ocean Pokemon's diets.) Elm took the pass and gestured towards the three Pokeballs.

"Chikorita is on the left, Cyndaquil's on the right and Totodile is in the middle. Choose Well." With the basic introductions done, Elm sat back and allowed Chris to make his choice.

Chris contemplated the three Pokeballs in silence. He liked Cyndaquil, but he didn't think that the fire mouse Pokemon would take too kindly to Gastly's constant abuse that would no doubt be inflicted upon whatever Pokemon he chose. A similar problem would be encountered if he picked Chikorita. Then he scowled. It wasn't fair that Gastly should be influencing his decision like this. He was the trainer. He was meant to be in charge. What he needed, was a Pokemon that would like him and respect him, and would get strong enough to beat Gastly into his place. He hated the fact that he had to physically make one of his Pokemon toe the line, especially his starter. He hated that Gastly had driven him to this. He hated the whole sorry situation.

With a growl that was very nearly a scream, Chris lunged forwards, grabbed the middle Pokeball and hurled it against the wall. It bounced off of a map of the Johto region and rebounded off the table. The ball split and coalesced into the form of a Totodile. The tiny water Pokemon smiled warmly and began jumping up and down and waving it's arms.

"_Light! Freedom! Not much water but we can work on that." _It cheered. With another cheer, Totodile ran forwards and crashed into Chris' leg with a massive hug. Chris smiled down at the little Pokemon before looking up. Professor Elm was looking at the shattered frame that had once contained his map.

"Oops. Sorry professor." Chris said. The Professor turned around and smiled.

"No don't worry." He responded. "Professor Redwood told me about your Gastly. I must say that you appear to be coping remarkably well." He looked Chris up and down. The boy was scruffy and looked starving. Professor Elm nodded to himself.

"Tell you what. Come and have some lunch with me and my family. You look like you could use it. You can leave your things here and let Gastly and Totodile get to know each other. There's nothing too valuable that he can damage here."

Chris thanked the professor profusely before slipping his bag off of his shoulders and throwing Gastly's Pokeball to the ground. The ghost Pokemon blinked in the harsh light before looking at Chris, and the little Totodile that was still clamped to his leg.

"_Oh no."_ Gastly groaned, "_A Totodile. I hate Totodiles. They're so damn cheerful."_ The Totodile in question stuck out his tongue at Gastly. Chris extracted Totodile from his leg and put him on the floor before turning to Gastly.

"I'm going out for lunch. You can stay here and try to make friends." He said sternly.

"_Yeah sure. And maybe I'll end up strangling the thing." _Gastly glowered. Chris dismissively waved a hand and walked out of the doors. Once he'd left, Totodile turned to Gastly.

"_Why do you hate him?" _he asked, trying to clamber up onto the tabletop. Gastly faltered. He'd never been asked the question before and found it hard to formulate an answer.

"_Because he's human. He's a Pokemon trainer. He thinks I'm just his pet. A weapon to be used against his foes. I'm better than that. I'm better than _him._ I'm a Ghost Pokemon. I could kill him with a thought. So what gives him the right to order me around? I'm the stronger of the two of us and I intend to make him see that."_

"_I'm sure he's not trying to control you. Maybe he's only trying to boss you around because you won't listen to him." _Totodile said yanking a ration bar out of Chris' bag and tearing into it. "_Think about it for a minute. He's giving you free shelter, free food, all the medical attention you need, which you wouldn't get in the wild. And in return, you get to beat other Pokemon to bloody pulps. Now which part of that isn't a sweet deal for you?" _Totodile asked. Gastly frowned for a second before his face brightened.

"_You know what? You might have something there. Maybe I have been looking at this the wrong way. But still…" _Gastly hovered up to the table and wrapped ectoplasmic tendrils around Chikorita's Pokeball. With an almighty effort. He lifted the Pokeball into Chris' bag and did up the zips. "_Someone's going to be waiting to start their own journey with that Chikorita. Just because I'm going to start working with him, doesn't mean I've got to be nice" _Gastly grinned evilly. Totodile looked up from his half-eaten ration bar_._

"_Fair enough." _He grinned, finishing off the last half of the bar in one giant bite.

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There you have it. Thanks for taking the time to read this first chapter. If you enjoyed it, or even if you have suggestions on how I could improve it, feel free to drop me a line via the review button below. Thanks again for reading and feel free also to submit a trainer for me to use. Thanks in advance and I hope to see you again in Chapter 2.


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